Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Oil, Oil Everywhere (USO)

WTI was recently down another eleven cents to $48.44 while natural gas was up three cents.The United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) is up nine cents after dropping 1% when the release crossed the tape.We follow the commodities as much for their predictive qualities as for the action. First up, MarketBeat:

While economists and investors squabble about whether or not the economy is bottoming, green shooting, pausing or preparing to take off, the relentless rise in oil inventories bears watching.

On Wednesday morning, the Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories had risen a more-than-expected 3.9 million barrels to a whopping 370.6 million barrels, the highest levels since Sept. 1990. More interestingly, gasoline inventories added another 800,000 barrels to 217.3 million barrels. Analysts had expected gasoline levels to fall.

Green shootists and other optimists won’t like these figures. The rising inventories raise questions about economic activity. If things are starting to get better, stocks should be falling. As for gasoline stocks, their rise indicates that regular folks aren’t doing a lot of driving, if they can help it....MORE

From HardAssetsInvestor:

Awash In Oil; Gasoline And Distillates, Too

...Technically, the crude oil outlook is bearish. An extension of the week's decline puts now-nearby June futures in a position to test the 50-day moving average at $45.94 and the 100-day moving average at $44.23. A close above $50.44 would be needed to signal a reversal from an interim low....MORE